Voyage of the Scotia 1902-04

People of the Expedition

A sledging party with a balloon

This photograph was found among those taken during the 1902-1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, but there is no confirmation that a balloon was used during the expedition, nor how it might have been inflated.

Meteorological kites are certainly referred to, although they do not appear to have been a great success in the Antarctic environment. There is no evidence however that a balloon was used, although such a device might well have been useful for visual surveying.

At least one photograph does survive, taken from the gondola basket of a balloon, and this may have been shot during the expedition. (See 037-040 in the same collection.)